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Geoff 'Poison' Pearce
Geoff Pearce, nicknamed "Poison", was Leading Firefighter and later Sub Officer at Blackwall Fire Station from 1993 to 2002. Biography Geoff Pearce, nicknamed "Poison", arrived at Blackwall as Malcolm Cross's replacement. He had been Sub Officer in Bristol, but accepted a demotion in order to transfer to the London Fire Brigade. Pearce always struggled to fit in with the watch. He was humourless, pedantic and had an irritating catchphrase ("chop chop") when giving out orders. Pearce incessantly grovelled towards his superiors by making them cups of tea and congratulating them on their decisions. He also had a habit of stirring up trouble by telling tales and spreading gossip and rumours around the station, which earned him his nickname. Geoff was married to Patti. Like her husband, Patti was also a troublemaker and tried to seduce John Hallam; Pearce confided to Hallam that they moved away from Bristol because Patti had come onto to a senior officer. He had an uneasy relationship with Hallam, who was unimpressed when Geoff and Patti bought a house in their street, and when Geoff suggested they do a car share to travel to work. Sandra Hallam had little regard for both Geoff and Patti, considering them oddballs and stirrers. Pearce rarely got on with Billy Ray, who enjoyed playing pranks on him, including pouring salt into Geoff's milk (which he didn't notice), and filling a lavatory with fire extinguisher foam just before Geoff used it. They clashed when Billy (wrongly) suspected Pearce of informing Scase about him giving away stolen uniforms. He was at odds with Mike 'Bayleaf' Wilson after Pearce claimed he hadn't seen the motorcycle which had caused Bayleaf to crash the appliance, resulting in the usually calm Bayleaf lunging at him; and Kevin Medhurst, when Pearce informed Georgiadis that it was Kevin's brother Micky who had attacked Maggie at the station. He also told Georgiadis about George Green participating in an unlicensed boxing match. After Carole Webb became Sub Officer at Blackwall, Pearce was envious that she had been promoted ahead of him and did his best to undermine her. In series 6, Hallam was seconded to the Fire Investigation Unit and Pearce promoted to acting Sub Officer. However, when Georgiadis was injured during a shout, Pearce lost control of the situation and Hallam had to take charge. At the subsequent debriefing Pearce tried to blame it on everyone else, which did not go unnoticed by the presiding officer, who called him a "pain in the arse". At a car pile up, Geoff helped a pregnant woman deliver her baby. When Donald, a mentally disturbed man, kept visiting the station Geoff angrily chased him away. Later, Donald was trapped on the roof of a burning building and Pearce tried to talk him down, but a nervous Donald backed off and fell to his death. Patti and Geoff split up during series 8 and she filed for divorce. The watch and their wives noticed that she was missing and speculated that Pearce had murdered her. When Pearce heard the rumours it led to a blazing row and he stormed out of the station while on duty. Patti then returned and they were reconciled, but he threw her out again after seeing her meeting an officer from Bristol in a hotel. For a new companion he bought a dog, Bruno. He also made friends with fellow oddball Vernon 'Clingfilm' Chivers. Pearce found out about Hallam's affair with student Jenny, and while en route to work Hallam angrily accused him of telling Sandra. At a shout that night, they both went into a burning building to look for a group of missing girls. While leading the girls across a high gantry it gave way under Hallam's feet and Pearce was powerless to help as Hallam lost his grip and fell 80ft, subsequently dying of his injuries. Geoff was wracked with guilt afterwards and considered transferring away from Blackwall; he applied for a Sub Officer's post in Hampshire, but did not attend the interview. He was also upset when he learned that Sandra Hallam had insisted that he not be one of John's pallbearers, though he and Sandra later made their peace. In series 12 Geoff met Fiona and they got married and had a daughter, Eve. Appearances Geoff Pearce appeared in 128 episodes of London's Burning between 1993 and 2002. Pearce Pearce